Ohio families receiving food stamps could get an unwelcome surprise come January: $50 less every month in assistance.

For the 869,000 households enrolled in the program for the poorest Ohioans, that could amount to about $520 million annually out of the grocery budgets.

The Messiah giveth and the Messiah taketh away. Once he’s been safely re-elected.

Because of the way the federal government calculates utility expenses for people receiving the benefit, a mild winter nationwide last year, and a lower price for natural gas, many families could experience a significant cut in aid, those familiar with the program say…

You see? Global warming saves money!

Note that this is being done by the federal government. Obama. Not the state government which is run by evil Republicans. A casual reader might miss that subtle point, since it is barely mentioned.

And this is the thanks the locals get for stealing the election for Obama. And it is going to hit the most hardcore Obama supporters the hardest. Those loyal foot soldiers who probably voted their hearts out for Obama who knows how many times.

“They are going to increase hunger among our most vulnerable – working families, seniors, children, and persons with disabilities,” said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks…

What’s called the “standard utility allowance” – the amount deducted from a person’s income when the state determines his or her eligibility for the food stamp program – will decrease by $166 for 2013, translating to about $50 less per household in food assistance. State Job and Family Services officials tried to appeal the change to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but the USDA denied the request.

USDA officials did not respond to requests from The Blade for comment…

Don’t they care about increasing the food stamp rolls now that the elections are over?

“This is a federal issue,” said Joel Potts, executive director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Directors’ Association…

Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services in southeastern Ohio, said the loss of funds will cause a true hardship… “These are folks that have already fallen off the fiscal cliff.” Mr. Frech added that many of his agency’s clients are not affected by lower natural gas prices. “The majority of folks [here] don’t heat with natural gas in the first place,” he said. “They heat with fuel oil and propane.”

The Rev. Steve Anthony, executive director of Toledo Area Ministries, said, “It will put a strain on all organizations that provide emergency food… We can’t pull food or money out of thin air.”…

2 thoughts on “Election Over, USDA Cuts Ohio Food Stamps Aid”

My neighbor already doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive, and she won’t ask friends and relatives for a dime of assistance. I tried to tell her it’s her friends and relatives and her church to help her but she doesn’t understand.